The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-08-27


peared rs II they would be torn from
the bones. A little neuralgia pain IN
the head will often mako lunatics ou
Of people. Can anyone imagine what
must be the feelings Of person whose
whole body Is the seat Of
ONE INTENSE PAINp
Think Of o foothaohe being magnified 0
thousand times In quantity. DR.. Keane,
tho consulting surgeon Of St. Elizabeth
Hospital. heard Of the strange case
and had the patient removed to the
hospital, where the development of the
malady could DO closely watched. As
tho patient was being carried from her
room lighted lamp was overturned
and exploded. Some OF tho oil was
thrown on the woman's legs, and burn
cd them slightly. This misfortune
while It added to the suffering Of the
patient for time, in the end proved to
be the most fortunate thing that could
have happened. IS IT led to the discov'
cry of something that could give her
relief and possibly cure her.
When the effect of the burn had pass
ed away the patient said in that par.
ticular part Of the leg there was no
pain. This set DR.. Kean to thinking.
and he came to the conclusion that the
woman might be benefited by disturb
ing the relations and structure of the
superficial muscle by heat He had an
instrument made, something In the
shape, though smaller than curry
comb, which could be flattened or
rounded at will by o set-screw. The
surface of the instrument was thickly
studded with needles, and fitted so that
it could be adjusted to a galvano-
cautery battery.
The plan of operation was simple
ono. The patient was given ether
simply to dull the senses. and not rem
der her thoroughly insensible, as her
heart would not stand It The needles
were placed upon the thigh. and forced
into the flesh short distance by pres.
sure. The wound was allowed to bleed
for O while. Then button was touch
ed, the electric current ran through the
wires, and the needles were made
white-hot in q second. There was a
Kissing and sputtering. and tho needles
were
SUNK DEEPER INTO THE FLESH.
About half an inch was considered suf-
ficient. The heat was applied until the
the flesh was we'll burned, and then the
needles were withdrawn. They were
applied in several other places on the
thigh near each other, and the expert
ment was ended for the time being.
The flesh was very sore aiterward, and
1t was fully weak before any result
was obtained. Tho patient declared
that tho twitching pain had left the
burned places, though II still existed
around them. The course pointed out
was plain. The whole body must be
subjected to the torture OF burning
to relieve the torture from some I'M
known cause. And 1t was, or that is,
1t has nearly all been 10 treated up to
the present time, and the result has
been most gratifying. The pain has
been reduced to such an extent that the
woman actually enjoys the few sores
on he body from the burns and desires
the operation to be speeded. But the
work must 60 on slowly to keep the
shock down, and it will be several
weeks before the burning process will
be finished. The face will be treated
last. and will only be lightly touched
with she needles to prevent scars. The
indications now point in the opinion OF
the attending surgeon. to a certain
cure of strange case. in which the
method of cure was pointed out by an
n oo;dopf